Life as usual?
by Smiddy621
Summary: Garu leaves Sooga to get some alone time, and ends up being gone for three years. What will it be like when he finally makes his return?
1. An average day?

Disclaimer I hereby admit that I do not officially own any part of Pucca in any way, shape, or form. As sad as I am about that, I've learned to deal with it, just as many others.

AN: As promised, a shout out to my bestest girlfriend, Kelley (you may know her as Omega1156): You are my inspiration for this... so witness the monster that you helped me spawn. I love you, but... Damn you straight to hell for getting me into this show!

I'm gonna tell you now just as a warning about my updates. Sorry if I anger any of you who tend to get impatient, but I'm probably gonna update it once every 3-4 weeks. Work and school will be taking a lot out of my time and energy, and I don't want to force myself to write when my brain has checked out. I'm not gonna force you, the readers, to read the crappy product of a mentally exhausted author. I'll post the chap updates when they're ready, period. I don't take too kindly to flames and I won't rush it no matter how much you press me to do so. Good stories are like good cookies, they're ready when they're ready.

**Life as Usual?**

Heaving his heavy backpack, Garu triumphantly reached the summit of the last hill blocking his view of his old home, the village of Sooga. He had been gone for 3 years, going all across the country training at what seemed to be countless temples and dojos, hoping to get a grasp on some mental issues as well as broaden his martial arts techniques. He needed time to think, and training really cleared his head. Plus, Tobe had gotten to be a pain in the ass, and he could use some new moves to beat him down soundly next time, hopefully that will keep him from seeking to piss him off all the time so he can have some time to himself.

He sat for the first time all day, and looked down at Sooga, and for the first time in too long, he was happy to be at his "Home Sweet Home". As he observed, he was glad to see that hardly anything changed. He wondered how people would take his return, having departed in the dead of night without a word. He scrawled a short note and Scotch-taped it to his door, and then hurried out of town before he could change his mind. He still feels guilty about it, but he knew it was necessary. Pucca wouldn't let him be alone for more than 20 minutes, and she was part of the reason he needed to leave for a while. "Poor Pucca," he thought, feeling fairly guilty. He knew full well what his leaving would do to his innocent lovesick friend. He regretted it every step of the way… _Well, I'm sure this is going to take much more than an apology to make up for this, hehe. I wonder what I'm gonna need to do to make up for this._

Falling back, Garu relaxed in the grass next to his ever-faithful friend, Mio. He quickly curled up, he knew that this was a time to rest, and he was fast asleep. Garu heaved a heavy sigh, thinking back to the time he had so abruptly left his home and friends. Okay, not just friends, many of them were more than just that, they were his valuable family. He sorely missed Abyo, even his loud-mouthed confidence and cocky show-boating would be music to his ears right now. _He really is proud of that body of his, though_, letting out a slight chuckle. His thoughts drifted back to that fateful day, when he left virtually everything he knew behind….

Garu had come to the decision that he needed alone time. The only time he's ever had peace of mind was while he was training or meditating, and that's what he needed to think many things over. The weeks before he left, Pucca had recently turned 12, and she was coming onto him much more often than he could really handle. He was 13 at the time, and despite all his focus training, Pucca was really beginning to distract him in a different way…

* * *

_Flashback - The day before he left  
_

Garu just stared at Ching in utter amazement. Much to his surprise, Ching had actually admitted to him about her love for Abyo, despite that he was already under the impression that she held on to deep feelings for his best friend long before now. He was happy that she came to him, though. They had always been close, and he saw her as a younger sister more than anything. It brought him some relief that she gathered the courage to tell him of all people. He expected this to be something she should (and already did) speak to Pucca about. "I just wanted you to know. I wouldn't think it's right for me to keep this from you when we're like best friends and this involves one of your best friends."

What was more surprising was what came next. Ching turned the tables onto him now, "Hey Garu, what about you and Pucca. Don't you have any feelings for her?" Caught off-balance, Garu thought long and hard… Pucca was always a good friend, and despite her annoying advances on him, he knew she was a good person and that she meant well. In fact, she was an incredible person… kind-hearted, cute (_Wait, did I just think that?!_), multi-talented… the only bad thing about her was that she was way too forward for him, but he never really told her to stop. It was almost like their little game… yeah, that's right, just a game. He didn't enjoy it for _that _reason. Even so, it's not like he _hated _her. She was, at the veerryy least, good to have around. So… not having any real answer for her, Garu just passively shrugged, making the 'I don't know' grunt.

Slightly irritated by the lack of a clear answer, not to mention how un-enthusiastic about the whole topic he was, Ching pressed harder "Oh come on, Garu. She's loved you for two years. Don't you think she's at least earned the right for you to give her a chance? You've never considered trying to return her feelings?..." She was about to press him more but…

All of a sudden, as though the timing could not have been more perfect (for once), Abyo crept up behind Garu and attempted to give him a firm smack on the back… Garu's confused thoughts left his guard down, and, much to everyone's surprise, it connected. "Hey, Garu! -smack- Woah, sorry. Hey, how about we hang out for a bit and spar? I'm getting bored and restless!".. The sudden impact made Ching, already tense from her confession, jump and almost shriek. Garu slightly winced at his sore back, but his thoughts were elsewhere. _Yes! Saved!! Abyo I owe you big for this one_. He looked triumphantly in Ching's direction. He was a bit thrown off by a pleading look on her face. She mouthed to him when Abyo wasn't looking, "Please don't tell him!" She appeared on the verge of tears. Now, most men wouldn't be able to live with themselves for making a girl like Ching cry, but Garu is better than most men, so before it got any worse, he gave her a serious, yet reassuring, nod and made his way away from _that _situation.

However, after they put some distance between them and Ching, it was Abyo's turn to interrogate him, "Hey, Garu," he brought up, "What were you talking to Ching about, anyway?"

"Hmm…uhh," Garu paused to ponder deeply. He instantly stopped dead in his tracks and held his breath for a moment, completely wide-eyed, _That's right! Ching started this whole thing by telling me about how she feels about Abyo. Oh gosh, I promised her I wouldn't tell, but what do tell him, he's my best friend! I should never lie to him... well, he doesn't need to know just yet, but I'll tell him soon enough._ Relieved at how he was going to handle it, Garu instantly resumed walking, put on a straight face, and innocently shrugged, hoping that it would stop at that.

It was only a short moment, but long enough for Abyo to noticed (trust me, that's not easy). Typically, he really would've left it at that, but the fact that he noticed _that _much meant it was something big.

"Garu, we both know that you're too polite not to listen to what someone like Ching has to say!" Abyo reasoned. Abyo knows as well as Garu that that's pretty much the truth. Garu let out a deep sigh, wondering what he should do.. _Well, I don't need to tell him the _whole _truth, not yet anyway. Ching you owe me._ Doing the best he could to avoid speaking (not only to avoid breaking his vow, but so he didn't give himself away), he pointed to himself, then to the heart on his shirt, then proceeded to take the ends of his ponytails and made a round fist around each end, making the ends resemble a ball (or more specifically, a bun).

Abyo was staring blankly at him for a for a second, then, very confused, said, "You. Heart. Your hair?... Garu, what the hell does the fact that you like your hairstyle have to do with anything?!" Seeing Garu's frustrated face twist and turn a deep crimson, Abyo quickly took a step away, hoping that his friend won't kill him right here and now, or later when they were going to spar.

Garu had come across this issue many times following his vow, and now readily carries a pad of paper and a pencil in some specially made discreet pockets in his outfit. He quickly wrote down "Do I like Pucca?" and roughly shoved it in front of his face. Hopefully Abyo would take a hint that that was what he and _Ching _were talking about, not him asking Abyo a question.

Abyo, still a bit fearful from the anger he saw welling up in Garu just a second ago, looked in the direction to read the note angrily scrawled on the paper. This new fear made him think a bit harder than normal, and thought back to his question. That "Oohhh" expression lit up his face… or was that the light bulb that was now floating over his head that flicked on? Oh well, whatever…moving on! Of course, the next thing to come to mind was pressing for more. "So what did you tell her?" Abyo daringly asked. After throwing a very, very annoyed glare at Abyo, Garu clearly illustrating the point that he didn't _tell _her anything, what with his vow and all. Garu just shrugged and shook his head, probably holding a strong desire to drop the subject.

While they were sparring, Garu's mind was much clearer, of course, but whenever Abyo would start slowing down (for some reason), his thoughts came to rest on that persistent question again, "Do I like Pucca? Should I like Pucca? Why shouldn't I like her?"

Abyo noticed that Garu got distracted on those times he slowed down in their sparring match to give himself a bit of a break (they'd been going on for 4 hours straight), and pushed himself to pick up the pace if Garu thinks he can be distracted and fight him at the same time. He wasn't going to have it!

That night, Garu lay in bed, hopelessly and blankly staring at his ceiling, obviously very deep in thought. _Why is this causing me so much freaking trouble?? I don't like her that way yet, but why am I dwelling on it so much?? Wait, YET?? Urrrgh!! So confusing!_ Now that he was dwelling on it, he realized he'd been lightly considering Pucca for some time now, but with his training and meditation, he just doesn't have the time to really realize it, which is a really strong hint that he might not have the time for her, either. Plus, she seemed too… high maintenance for him. He rolled over on his side and glanced at the clock, "sigh It's already past two," he pointed out blankly… With one last motion, he turned out his light and drifted to sleep. _I'll sleep on it and clear my head for tomorrow._

The next morning, he ran over to his usual posts and stood there, balancing and meditating, letting his mind wander, but not too much as to lose his balance. This would keep his mind centered on the main issue here; does he have any interest in Pucca? _Think man! You're almost 14, maybe you should be thinking about this a bit more often. She's got so many good qualities, and I'm sure she's a good listener, if you like her, that's the reason you haven't asked her to stop those loving embraces and advances… Crap, you need to handle this soon!_

As the sweat was beginning to bead up on his face, Garu heard a very familiar giggle… and before he registered who it was, Pucca had pounced on him from the bushes behind him and pinned him down in a deep hug… 10 feet away from the post (kinda far, don't ya think?). He realized how much he enjoyed her scent… Strawberry shampoo was quickly overtaking many of his senses, and he caught himself reveling in the sweet scent of her smooth dark hair, something that has been happening too often recently. _Right, I never ran into her yesterday, she must be making up for that. _ Of course, just as he was beginning to snap back to his usual reaction and stoic self, she planted a big kiss right on his cheek. He felt his face heat up, not sure if it was frustration that Pucca interrupted his thoughts, or if it was embarrassment from liking it a little bit more than usual. He quickly wriggled his way out from under her and ran away, attempting to keep his straight face together until he was at least out of sight

Pucca eyed the fleeing Garu curiously, _I think he was accepting that a tiny bit more than usual_… She giggled, grinning ear-to-ear at the thought that Garu might finally be coming around to her. She figured she'd leave Garu alone to himself and think about her for a while, hehe.

_- That Night -_

_What is up with me lately?? !!_ A very frustrated Garu, relieved not to see much more of Pucca today, tossed and turned in his bed, trying to get the image of the smiling face of his crazy girl— _female_ friend—out of his head. While he was running away earlier today, he looked back and noticed a very devious and confident smile come across Pucca's face. He was one of the few people who could _kind of _get a read on Pucca's facial expressions. Considering what had happened shortly before, Garu's face blanched. _Shit!! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You let her notice you were enjoying it!!_

Realizing that all of this sudden tension just might give him an aneurism.., or an ulcer, he took several long deep breaths. The mind training he went through while becoming a ninja probably just saved him from dying because of the mental stress he was putting on himself. His mind, more adapted to coming up with battle strategies and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent, was struggling to come up with a clear solution to his "problem" with Pucca. Now, he was locked in a mental battle with himself, yet another thing that his so-called "experienced" mind was unaccustomed to: _Come on you idiot!! Do you like her or not?!... I don't know, I think I might… Well, we (we??) need to figure this out. Meditation is out of the question now, since nowhere in Sooga is safe from that girl!.. Well, I guess I could rationalize leaving Sooga, but, I should let someone know… Who, then? There's Abyo, and he tends to be unreliable with secrets, and everyone else is either an enemy or loves Pucca. She'll be on you before you're a mile out of town!.. So, what then?.. _

This was weird… Garu was SERIOUSLY considering just leaving Sooga without telling anyone. Blatant abandonment seemed almost sacrilegious to his strict honor code (not just his personal code of ethics, but also his ninja's honor code). But what else was there for him to do?? He shouldn't like her that way, not now! ! Slowly, yet surely, Garu was coming down to his two biggest options: Leave Sooga for however long he needs, or stay and deal with Pucca, uncertain feelings, and let's not forget to mention that crazy second voice in his head (was she making him schizophrenic now??), that was definitely new.

Confused as to what he should do next, he once again consulted this second voice, though he was sure about what it was going to suggest that he do. _Okay… so what do I do now? I can't stay here much longer, no matter how much I'm sure I need to… Leave now. It won't be the first, nor the last, time you've roughed it outdoors. It's only 11pm, and you don't need that much stuff. Grab some money, clothes, and food and get out if you know that's what you want! Just remember, you've only two choices: go and figure this out on your own away from distractions, or stay and try to figure it out here. You clearly don't want the latter. What other options do you have? _Wow… this internal voice actually can come in handy. It seems very logical, even rationalizing that this is for his own good despite the fact that it was violating his strict honor code in so many ways… but he needs to be thinking long-term right now. He'll make it up to everyone when he figures everything out.

He was packed up and ready to go in less than two hours. He needed some sort of final encouragement that he should really do this… he found that in his little black cat, Mio, who had put together his own little backpack full of his necessities… Garu knew better than to try to find out the actual contents.

He needed to do something to let people know where he was… he needed keep the worrying down to a minimum. At least there's one less thing to feel guilty about. He pulled out a piece of his notebook paper and quickly scribbled (he was incredibly nervous, you try to write well when your hand is shaking that hard) the last thing the villagers will get from him for a long time, he wasn't quite sure, himself. "Sorry I couldn't tell you in person, but I need to go off for a while. Don't look for me, and, well, tell Pucca how incredibly sorry I am. I need to sort some things out in my head and I need alone time. I'll be back when I'm back - Garu" Hurriedly, before he changed his mind, he ran out his door, shut and locked it, then fit the note between the doorframe and the door itself, and secured the other side with some tape. Ensuring that it won't fly away in the wind (like there was ever that much anyway, but just in case), he hurried off, second-guessing his actions the entire way up the secluded mountain trail. When he reached the top, he cast one last look onto Sooga, all lights out and fast asleep. It looks so tranquil, almost beautiful, illuminated solely by the moon and the stars. _Sorry everyone, but I need to do this_, and with that thought, he began his quest for his own answers.

* * *

And there we have it. Here's chapter one. I hope you enjoyed it. R & R please, since I really am depending upon your input and critiques for upcoming chapters and possibly other stories. I hope that I can keep making long-ish chapters like this one for your reading pleasure. BTW, in case you didn't notice, this is my VERY first fanfic, so be brutal, you have my permission, lol.

-Smiddy


	2. A day unlike any other

**AN: Well, sorry for the immense freakin wait on this chapter. I've had one more thing after another just cramming into my schedule... I've been very stressed out lately and in just no mood to write. I loved the first chapter when I wrote it... about halfway through this chapter, it just became work. I apologize for taking so long, I only ask you to tolerate it... Hopefully when winter break hits on December 17th, I won't be totally backlogged with work and school stuff, during which, I can write to my heart's content. Personally, I don't think I should've posted the first chapter and just made this story one super-long oneshot. Can't turn back now, though. **

**And now, without further adieu (I've made you wait _this _long), here is Chapter 2 of "Life as usual?". Enjoy!**

* * *

Garu had made good time with his departure, by the time the sun came up and all the citizens were just rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, Garu had put well over 20 miles between him and his peaceful hometown. He was sure that it won't be very peaceful today, though. He would never be aware of the events following his departure for years to come…

* * *

_Present Day_

EEE! EEE! EEEE! EEE! EEE! EEE! EEE! E- Pucca slammed the "Snooze" button on her alarm clock, and, groaning and yawning the whole time, wiped the sleep out of her eyes and stretched as she made her way into the waking world. _Well, there goes another practically sleepless night. _It started happening again... must be another one of those times... again... She looked at the calendar she had hanging on the wall, _Yup, it's early August, it's definitely one of those times..._ Pucca heaved a heavy sigh as she slowly made her way out of bed to a vertical arrangement. It had been like this the past two years already, so why was this year any different...? She always seemed to lose sleep, appetite, and she was always drained around the times of her birthday (except for the actual _day_) and around the time Garu left...

_Bleh, no time for bad thoughts like this, you gotta get ready_ Pucca grimaced at herself for dwelling on issues long-past. She tried to shake those nasty thoughts away. _Maybe a nice shower will clear my head.._ She already knew that it wouldn't, but she could always hope, right? After she stretched one more time to get her long legs working, she made her way to the bathroom. As the steam began to rise from the shower, Pucca's thoughts slowly faded to the day where everything changed (you know, in that classic hazy flashback thingy)...

* * *

It was a day like any other for Pucca, finally wriggling out of bed late in the morning (it was her day off, today, woot! o ). After her usual routine (shower, clothes, the major undertaking of setting her hair up), she went to the usual spot where she would hang out with Ching on these days off that seem to happen so rarely. Despite how normal everything appeared, she couldn't help but notice a weird, eerie feeling, like something was missing, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. As the day went on, the normalcy of everything seemed to put all her worries to rest when…

"GUUUYSS!!" ... Abyo came running up to them, when he skidded to a halt, he was panting heavily (unusual, he's in such good shape!). He had a scared look on his face (again, very weird, he's hardly afraid of anything!), and he just kept sputtering this gibberish so fast neither Ching nor Pucca could understand. Ching, a little bit frustrated that the whole situation was going nowhere fast, sharply demanded, "Abyo!! Catch your breath, _then _speak!"

Slightly caught off-guard by the uncharacteristic sharpness in her normally jolly and light-hearted voice, Abyo stopped to breathe for a while. After he finally caught his breath enough to form valid sentences, he urgently "Have either of you seen Garu?! I've been looking!" At first, they considered the possibility that Garu had finally gotten annoyed with Abyo's constant challenges and decided to avoid him lately. After a second, they realized that Abyo was much too serious for something as trivial as that. Pucca and Ching both gasped, and exchanged worried glances, both at each other, then at Abyo. _Dammit, I knew something was off!, _thought Pucca. Ching managed to regain her composure and take a much more serious expression. "Are you sure you looked _everywhere_?! Even his house and any secret spot you know about?" she questioned him.

"Umm… well eeerrr… Everywhere except…" he winced, "his house," Abyo answered hesitantly, knowing the negative response he'd get from the distracted and worried girls.

He wasn't disappointed.

No more than a second after he said it, Pucca just exploded at him, lifting him by his shirt collar and slamming him into a wall roughly 20 feet away, cracking the bricks on the building behind Abyo. She held him up violently. "What do you _mean_ you didn't check his house??" Pucca fumed at him. Abyo was annoying enough to her as it is, but this time he made quick work of her last nerve as well as her fairly long fuse. Before she knew what she was doing she had already had him pinned hard against this building. A fire burned in her eyes the likes of which Abyo had never witnessed...and _never _wanted to see again. _I wonder how she would have done this if I tore off my shirt.. _Abyo pondered for a moment and mentally shivered the thought away. _Gosh, what is up with everyone biting my head off today??_

_Wait a second.. ,_ Abyo finally noticed, _She... SPOKE! Now that I think about it.. she's never really said much of anything._

It all happened too quickly for Ching to even make a move to try to stop Pucca. Realizing the severity of the situation for both of them, Ching quickly pulled on Pucca's shoulders, despite her not even budging. Ching kept calling to her, hoping to snap her out of her crazed anger. Not only was this uncharacteristic of Pucca to snap over something like this, but Abyo really technically hasn't done anything wrong yet. Pucca finally looked back at her, with that "What is it now??" glare. Ching just looked pleadingly at her, non-verbally begging her to stop.

Abyo, wide-eyed and scared shit-less (actually he just might be for real) of his friend, struggled to re-learn how to speak. Her usual optimism, joy, and innocence had all given way to an intense anger the likes of which he'd never seen before. He quickly jumped to his defense, hoping to at least reduce the young girl's fiery rage. "Hey, if you were me you would only check his house as a last resort," he explained, "Ever since I lost control of that rod trying to zap that ghost, he won't let me near his _front door_. The last time I went looking for him at his house, he almost put me in the hospital when we sparred that day for bugging him when he was tired! I wouldn't go through that again if you _paid _me."

Pucca and Ching just sighed. Ching, still a bit shaken and tense about Pucca almost losing control, was doing what she could to put herself between their only link to Garu and her (slightly less) angry best friend. In the midst of her almost futile efforts to keep Pucca from letting loose on Abyo (there's no point in two people losing their love interests in the same day now, is there?), Ching got an idea. "Why don't I go check his house, then? Abyo won't get almost-killed, and I'm sorry Pucca, but Garu will likely just hide from you." Pucca just "hmpf"d… Ching understood what Pucca meant…that Garu wouldn't stay hidden for long. Pucca had nearly no boundaries when it came to her pursuit of Garu, and she would definitely find him, no matter how long it would've taken.

As soon as they made their way to his house, they instantly felt something was off. The physical signs were there, too. It was a nice and fairly warm day, and all of the windows were all ominously shut tight, like he might just be sleeping in. Abyo knows that Garu never misses a day to get up early and train. It was almost noon, so something definitely isn't right. Ching decided to still stick to the plan, and couldn't help but notice Abyo's anxious expression when she looked back at them. Pucca was completely still, hardly even breathing, as she looked on with her hands over her face, ready to shield herself from the worst-case scenario. As Ching cautiously worked her way around to the front of the house (who knows, Garu may be paranoid and have traps set), she noticed a piece of paper jammed against the door. She slowly crept closer, wanting to know, yet at the same time she didn't, what was on that piece of paper. _Who knows, it could just be an advertisement, yeah, that's what it is! _(AN: Sometimes, a salesman will just leave something over the handle or stick a business card btwn the doorjam and the door, much like I arranged for Garu to leave it). As she continued her creeping, she recognized it was a piece of paper from Garu's notepad.

Acting on a hunch (which she really hoped was incorrect), she waved for Pucca and Abyo to come over… Pucca more than enthusiastically dashed over to where she was, while Abyo was taking his time, looking over his shoulder every couple of steps, waiting for Garu to pop out of nowhere (he's a freaking ninja, what do you expect?) and knock him out hard enough to where he'd wake up tomorrow.

Much to Ching's disappointment, she was correct in guessing that nobody was home, she walked closer, checking out the note. She grabbed the note and read it aloud, "Sorry I couldn't tell you in person, but I need to go off for a while. Don't look for me, and, well, tell Pucca how incredibly sorry I am. I need to sort some things out in my head and I need alone time. I'll be back when I'm back, signed 'Garu'." Before she even noticed, Pucca was whimpering loudly, and that soon escalated into full-out sobbing. "Aww, come on Pucca, cheer up. This shows that Garu does care about you; you're the only person who he directly apologized to in the letter. Heck, he didn't even say anything to Abyo!" Ching pointed out. In all her efforts to cheer up her poor friend, she attempted to give her a comforting hug, but she was shaken off by Pucca, who turned to run away. Ching reached to catch her shoulder, but ended up grabbing at a dust cloud. It was clear Pucca didn't want to stick around.

Pucca really had no idea where she was going to end up when she finally stopped running, she just couldn't stand being there any longer, next to the grim reality that her Garu is gone, with no real promise of his return. Garu is gone, and he may never come back. She didn't want to believe it, but… but… he's gone. Garu left with barely so much as a farewell…

Ching's pained expression as her still outstretched hand slowly fell to her side made Abyo feel pretty bad, especially since he couldn't think of anything he could really do to cheer either of them up. However, in the midst of his thinking, he came up with something else… Knowing that this wasn't the right time to bring it up, Abyo offered, "Hey, why don't we get something to drink, we need to take a second to chill out. It's about lunchtime anyway, so you wanna get something to eat, too? You're gonna need the energy as much as I will when we tell everyone about Garu."

Ching couldn't help but smile a bit, finally seeing a softer side of Abyo was slightly easing how horrible she was feeling about the whole situation that unfolded mere moments ago. She couldn't make it any easier for Pucca, but everyone has a right to know, right? They had decided at lunch that Pucca's uncles at Goh-Rong should be the first to know.

* * *

_Later that day_

As everyone was finishing off their day (around 5 or 6pm), they couldn't help but notice one thing: Garu wasn't running away from Pucca today. Typically, he'd run several laps through various routes all throughout the village just to get away from his loving pursuer, and it wasn't unusual for someone to see them twice in the same day. Oohhh it was always so cute to watch when she finally catches him and just showers him with love until he gets out from under her for the chase to start again! It was a rare treat for those lucky few who would see her finally be victorious. Many of the shops who had stalls outside always made sure to reinforce these stalls and move them away from the road on Pucca's days off (ie: today). Now they really wondered what was going on.

Earlier that day, around lunch time, Ching (or Abyo) was going around to every doorstep, practically knocking the doors down or breaking the doorbells to say one thing, "Meeting at Goh-Rong, 6:30 sharp."

Ching and Abyo knew that the Goh-Rong was a good place to hold this meeting: the steps were high up and the plaza around it was roomy with good acoustics from the buildings surrounding the massive center square. They had loudspeakers balanced on the heads of the lion guard statues in front of the building (much to their dismay) that they borrowed from Destiny. Abyo and Ching were conversing with the chefs at the top of the stone steps. There was also one, or rather two, noticeable presences... or rather the noticeable lack of two specific presences: Garu and Pucca.

Despite being a skilled ninja, Garu almost always stood out in a crowd, no matter how dense. Plus, Garu hardly ever left Abyo's side, the two were always seen either hanging out or sparring when Garu was not busy training (which, considering that there was a town meeting right now, he most certainly was _not_).

Pucca's noticeable absence was unnerving as well. She and Ching had always been accomplices for EVERYTHING either of them would do, yet it was Ching and Abyo (an unlikely duo to say the least) working together to spread word throughout the village about this meeting.

"Okay, everyone," The loudspeakers finally boomed with Abyo's gritty voice along with a major bit of feedback, and the screeching echoed all around the plaza for several seconds. (Abyo cursed himself for making the near-deafening mistake of standing IN FRONT of the speakers). A hush quickly fell over the crowd and all eyes were on the man with the mic. _Wow, I hardly get this much attention when I tear off my shirt... I should do this more often _thought Abyo, off to the side. Despite how much he enjoyed getting attention, Abyo got so nervous he almost panicked. Thinking quickly, he said "Ching has something to say to everyone" and hastily tossed the microphone over to Ching before she even had time to process what he just said, let alone offer any complaints.

She unconsciously caught it (thank goodness for picking up a martial art!). She took less than a second to glare at Abyo, though the whole meaning behind that fierce expression came through to him at full intensity. She regained her composure and tried to warm up the crowd "Hm... um, well, Thank you for coming here right now, I'm sure everyone's fairly busy and wants to go home, but we-- well, I guess _I_ have an important announcement about something that I think everyone needs to know about. I'm sure many of you have noticed something different today. We called you all together here so we could make sure everyone heard at once. Well, the thing is," Ching swallowed and hesitated, _This is not gonna end well_, "Garu has left us." The sudden gasp did not surprise anybody, and Ching had to continue, "It's true, and I know that it's not the thing everyone wanted to hear, but we can't deny it." She gulped, _So far so good. The hard part's over..._ She continued, "He said he 'needed to take care of some things' and he was sure he was going to come back... eventually. He didn't say when, but I know that all we can do is wait and hope he comes back." After a couple seconds of silence to let everything sink in, as well as a sufficient pause to make sure there was nothing else that Ching was going to announce, the crowd burst into worried chatter, almost hysterical, actually. Ching took the chance to back away into the restaurant without much complaint from the crowd.

She strode her way through the empty establishment, almost in a run, straight towards the back where the stairs would lead to the 2nd floor hallway where Pucca's room was. She had her hand in her shirt pocket, like she was holding something very valuable or precious to make sure it wa still there. Three doors down the hall from her room, she could clearly hear the sobs of her poor, distraught friend. She lightly rapped on the door... _hmm... doesn't seem like she heard me_. She knocked a bit harder, still no sign of recognition... She tried to open the door to possibly get to her and "Puuucccaaa!! It's me, Ching!!" she yelled while she banged on the door. Finally, she heard a creak that sounded like someone getting off a bed. The sound of approaching footsteps further reassured her. _Good, she's coming to talk to me._ She heard the lock click, and the door opened to reveal a very bedraggled Pucca. Her hair was a mess, her shirt was wrinkled and surprisingly wet from tears... Pucca's tear-stained face revealed a much greater form of anguish than Ching had even thought possible. Her eyes were almost completely red, and smeared masquera completely surrounded her eyes and ran halfway down her cheeks.. _Strange, _Ching thought, _I didn't even notice Pucca wears masquera_.

_Oh well, all that aside... _"Umm.. Pucca, I know that this isn't your greatest time, and.." Ching hesitated for a second, " I just want you to know, that I'm here for you whenever you need me. And there's one more thing..." Ching finally took her hand out of her pocket, and with it, was that hastily scrawled letter from Garu, this time inside a sheet protector. "I don't know if you want it or not, but I think you should have it. You're the only one he addressed by name." With how depressing the situation was, it took everything Ching had to give Pucca a reassuring smile, just as she looked up to her. Pucca gazed into her friend's eyes and sighed. _Today wasn't the best day for me... tomorrow is a new day. I'll wait for you Garu, I'll wait as long as I need to... sigh._

* * *

**Phew! Well, that's done, finally. Work on Chap 3 is going slow, total lack of inspiration is really putting me in a rut -_-. Well, I like encouragement and criticism alike, so please, now that you've read 3,400 words, feel free to REVIEW ^^. Please? :D? **

**Thanks again for all your support. This has proven to be a fun project for me, and I really enjoy everything when it comes to writing. I apologize to those of you who are looking forward to a real update. I promise, I'm working on that update as you read this, so keep patience and all that fun stuff.  
**


End file.
